Miami Marlins are suing their own season ticket holders

Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

The Miami Marlins organization has stooped to a new low after suing season ticket holders for backing out of deals with the team.

The Miami Marlins are off to a 23-22 start to the season, but they have been in the national news for the wrong reasons as of late.

First came Dee Gordon‘s 80-game suspension for using PEDs, but the most recent news surrounding the team may be the most embarrassing.

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The organization is suing several season ticket holders and vendors for backing out of deals with the team.

Deals were backed out of because of empty promises by the team, which included a great deal of perks that were never actually delivered.

An article on the Miami New Times web site follows the story of one ticket holder, who explains what he was promised:

But during numerous sales pitches, Axelband says, the Marlins promised first-floor parking in the stadium garage and a private entrance. There would also be a lounge with pre- and postgame buffets so season ticket­holders could arrive early or hang out late. Axelband happily paid $24,000 for the two-seat package (that’s $148 per seat for each game) — nearly double the $13,000 he’d ponied up for the final year at Dolphin Stadium. He agreed to a two-year deal. Although only the private lounge was actually written into the contract, Axelband says he had no reason to believe the team wouldn’t follow through.

The article goes on to explain how those perks disappeared once the team was not performing at a high level and the attendance numbers weren’t as expected.

It is hard to expect someone to ignore the absence of what was promised after paying $24,000 for baseball tickets.

But it is even harder to believe that the Marlins would sue someone for refusing to pay after everything was taken away. By suing, the team is allowing the season ticket holders to explain what the team has done wrong, instead of just accepting that mistakes were made and moving on.

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Owner Jeffrey Loria is notorious for being a shoddy businessman, essentially swindling the city of Miami out of potential billions of dollars for his new stadium, which makes suing people for sums in the thousands look foolish, given the promises he made for attendance numbers.